1. The Land of Cotton

2. The Southern Economy The South thrived on the production of cash crops
The upper Southern states grew tobacco
Louisiana and parts of Texas grew sugarcane
No crop was a predominant or influential as cotton, which grew in the Southern part of the South

3. Cotton Becomes King
By the late 1840s, Southerners produced more than 2 million bales of cotton
By 1860 production reached almost 4 million bales
In 1860, southern cotton sold for $191 million
Southerners proclaimed “Cotton is King!”

4. Cotton Becomes King
The cotton gin makes production of cotton cheaper and easier
Even with the technology, labor was still very important to cotton production
Because of this, the demand for slave labor was increasing at a significant rate

5. Industry Lags
The South becomes very prosperous in agriculture during this time, but never manages to industrialize like the North
The South relied heavily on the North for a wide variety of products that they could not produce themselves

6. Society in the South
The economy of the South resulted in a rigid class structure emerging
There were several distinct classes that were seen in the South

7. Society in the South The class at the top was the planter elite
They were the people who owned the large plantations
The majority of enslaved people were owned by this class
They were the wealthiest people in the South

8. Society in the South Yeoman Farmers were the next step down
They owned smaller farms
Most did not own slaves
They worked the farms themselves
This group made up the majority of the white population in the South

9. Society in the South Near the bottom were the white, rural poor
They lived on land that was not commercially farmable
They lived off hunting, fishing, and trapping
Relied on subsistence farming

10. Society in the South At the bottom were African Americans
3.6 million African Americans lived in the South
93 percent were enslaved
They made up 37 percent of the South’s population

11. Society in the South There was also a small urban class
Comprised of doctors, lawyers, merchants, and other professionals
Even the Urban class was geared toward the agricultural economy of the South

12. Slavery There were generally two systems enslaved people worked in
Task System: Workers were given daily tasks to complete, when the work was finished for the day they were allowed to do what they wanted
Most farms and small plantations worked under this system

13. Slavery
Gang System: Workers were organized into gangs and worked from sunup to sundown
A driver acted as the director of a work gang
The gang system was far harsher and more degrading than the task system

14. Slavery Enslaved women did not have it easier than the men
Many worked in the fields along side the men
Some worked in the plantation houses as maids or nannies, less physical work, but they received much more scrutiny

15. Slavery
Enslaved children were often times allowed to play, often with the plantation owner’s children
Once the children were able to perform manual labor, they were put to work